I nearly twisted an ankle playing basketball.
Definitely pulled a back muscle ski-jumping.
Almost punched out our television.
And busted-a-move on a club floor to LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem.”
What do all of these events have in common?
I experienced them all via the Wii!
I asked for — and received — a Wii and Wii Fit for Christmas. Just Dance 3 — a game in which you follow animated dancers’ moves to pop music — was a gift for my birthday shortly thereafter. I figured that all of the above would be good tools to help me get in better shape.
Which has been the case.
Well, at least I’ll know just what to do if I ever find myself in a giant bubble on a river and need to navigate without bursting my bubble on jagged rocks. (For all non-Wii-ites, I’m referencing the lovely imagery from a balance game.)
What I didn’t count on was all the other things the Wii has helped me discover about myself.
For example, I am more competitive than I realized.
Now, I have never played basketball in real life, unless all those times I missed shots while playing ‘pig’ and ‘around the world’ with my daughters at the hoop in our driveway counts as ‘playing.’
And I’ve certainly never thought that if I could play basketball that I, at 5’4”, would have much of a chance against my athletic 6’1” husband.
But Wii isn’t real life.
In fact, Wii makes me forget the rules of real life.
So I find myself doing things like jumping up on the couch in our family room to try to get a height advantage over my husband to dunk... in Wii basketball. It didn’t work, by the way. I got my foot stuck between the sections of our couch and nearly twisted my ankle.
Then the next day, I decided to work off some frustration with Wii-sword-fighting... and nearly knocked over the television monitor at the same time that I sliced my opponent with my épée... I mean, ahem, my Wii remote. I also pulled a back muscle during a ski-jump... I mean, ahem, while squatting and then standing quickly to make my Wii character ski-jump.
I was just about ready to boot the Wii out the door... or at least concede that I really need to accept that the Wii-world isn’t real. While I might get a good workout on the Wii, I’m not really playing basketball. I’m not really age 25, even if on some days my balance skills can fool the Wii balance board. So the scores don’t really matter; what matters is the fact I’m getting a good work out, right?
That seemed a sensible approach until I outscored not one ... but both daughters ... in Just Dance 3. They're pretty sure that the Wii remote controllers are messed up. Secretly, I think they may be right, but the story I'm sticking to is that their mom has some awesome dance moves.
Now there’s no way I’m giving up on the Wii. Not when I stand a chance to be guessed as younger than I am, out-dance my kids, and — maybe, someday — dunk on my husband.
Send email to sharonshort@sharonshort.com.
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